Needle



' 1. w. GRANGER.

NEEDLE FILED JAN. 6, 1920.

Jan. 9, 1923.

' Patented rate, 1923. a

" nu tra nstar s I y art sts earner orator...

zronn w. GRANGER, or PHILADELPHIA, rnnnsrrvanm.

NEEDLE.-

Application filed January 6, 1920. Serial No. 349,675.

Toa ll w/wmt may) concern: 7

Be it known thatl, Joint W. GRANGER, a

ing'the thread through this opening into the f ,eye, and one object of my invention is to 'provide needle of this type with a novel 15. form of'thread guideespecially designed to -avoidcatching or- Splitting of {the thread wh n it is attemptedtofintroduce it between said 7 guide and the stem.

Another objectof the invention is to provide a needle 'With a novel construction of stem or body and thread gulde designed especially to prevent cutting of the thread at'the time of its passagejinto the eye, and also to provide a needle whose body shall be of a section such as will. permit of its passage through the material operated onwith less 'frictionthan has hithertocharacterized nee? Q dles of the type noted. a I The invention further contemplates the 'fprovis ion of a needle of the type noted which shallhgve a threadjguide of such form and disposition as shall prevent its being perina nently sprung or bent away .lroin the stem ;the construction being particularly designed 'toprevent the escape of the thread from the eye or its injury during tacking.

" These objectsjand other advantageous .endsI attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being made'to the accompanying draw 40 ings, nfwhlch,

; hodying my invention; 1' 1 FigfQ is an enlarged transverse section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aside elevation ota modified ,itorin of' nedlei y n dis a fragmentary elevation .01] a larger-scalethan 3, illustrating" the detail construction of the free end of the thread guiding element; y y

e .Fig, 5fi's a transverse section on the line Fig.4; f v

Fig. 6'is'a side elevation of a needle embodyin'g a second modification of my inven- On; 1

tion of a Fig. 7 is anenlarged fragmenta l m portion of the needle shown Fig. 6; v i 1 Fig. 8 is. a transverse section of the line 8,Fig.7;

Fig. 9 is af fragmentary side elevation showing the preferred construction of the thread guiding member adjacent'the eye;

Fig. 1.0 JSZL transverse section on'the line Fig-.11 is" a sideelevation ot my needle; and I Fig. 12 1s a longitudinal section of a needle havingaspecial form of thread guide.

In I of the alcove drawings 1 represents the'shank or head of the needle which has a stem or bodyportionQ of reduced diameter and a point Adjacent'the portion Where said pointjoins the'stem, the

latter is formed with a longitudinal cut or slit extended rearwardly from apoi'nt parn of another form alel ivith and usually to one side of its center line, and thenat. an acute anglethereto so as to divide the forward end of the sterni'nto two parts. Oneof theseparts has tormed in it aneye 'intow'hich the slit or cutopens, and the rear end of said part-1s extended toward the shank 1 in the form of an elongated relatively thin flexible rod 5' constituting a thread guide. This lies paralleland partly ithin an elongated, "channel shaped slot or in the stem recess. and extends to Within a short distance of the shank Where its free end portion (3 is turned at right angles and .is curved circularly around the stem. 'llhisportion is tree to move transversely of the needle to a limited extent and its extrenuty pro ects tro'in the stem n a line substantially tangent thereto so as to form 1 a converging thread directing channel. 1: is aside elevation of a needle eni- The guide rod 5 is preferably of substan tially circular section and when it is 'desired to introduce a thread into the "eye, said thread is held in a position substantially parallel to the center line of the needle and is placed between the projecting extremity of the longitudinal slot of the needle stemso as to project but a slight distance beyond the surface thereof, there is anegligible friction with the material through which .the needleis operated underworking-conditions. Moreover with the peculiar arrangement of the extremity of the guide rod relatively to thestem, the thread to be placed in the 'eye is entered between the stem and s'aidrod in such a manner that vthere is a negligible chance of itsbeing caughtupon the end of the rod and split or out. Moreover, since the free end of the guide rod is held by being curved around the stem, its body portion cannot be sprung laterally away from saidstem'by the careless introduction of the thread into the eye so far.

as to break. or cause. permanent bending of said rod, as would be the. case'if its end could be bodily pulled away from the stem for any considerable distance. By the peculiar construction of the needle point 3 and the adjacent portion ofthe stem, this part of, the needle is. not objectionably weakened b'ythe cutor slit forthe intro duct-ion of the thread, since it is noted that there are equal thicknesses of material on both sides of the eye. I

While in that form of my invention shown in Fig. 1 thecut or slit in the for ward end of the stem may and usually does extend'jforwardly beyond the eye 4, in that form of the needle shown in Fig. 3 theguide rod 5 is connec ed integrally with the stem immediately adjacent the point without be-' ing materially enlarged as in the other form of my invention. Moreover in order toprevent escape of the thread from the eye or its injury during the operation of tacking, the forward end ofthe guide rod is deflected into the eye as shown in detail at 7 in Figs. 9 and 10, so that it tends to hold the thread away from the adjacent walls of the eye and thus prevent its escape as well as its abrasion or cutting. In this particular case the free extremity. of the guide rod is bent through approximately 180-deg. or returned upon itself as shown at sibility of a thread being split or cut by its square end. i V

In Fig. 11 I have shown another form of my invention in which the guide rod is formed with a loop or lateral U-sha'ped pro jection 10 at that'portion of the stem immediately adjacent the head or shank 1 and modify the form of the in this case said rod is continued beyond the loop in alongitudinally extending groove formed in the shank to such a depth that it is completely below the cylindrical surface thereof. This loop is designed to receive the end of the thread which is to be inserted in the eye 4 and thereafter said thread is moved downwardly toward the point between'the stem 2 and the guide rod 5 which is sprung outwardly until it enters the eye. Y F If advisable or necessary to prevent accidental springing of the guide rod 5 .too far away fromthestem of'the needle, Imay provide a hole 12 through the shankladjacent its junction. with the stem and ca the extremity ofthe guide rod therethrough,

bending it substantially at right" angles; on

the opposite side of the needle as indicated at 13. By this meansthe pulling of said rod away from the stem to aninj'urious extent is effectually. prevented. j From the above description it will .be appreciated that I have provided ajform of needle which may be manufactured on a commercial scaleand whose arrangement of parts-issuch as to facilitate quickand convenient threading. Moreover, the thread guiding rod is of such construction and so mounted that it not; only is practically im possible for its extremity to cause; splitting or cutting of the threadbut it is likewise so arranged that it cannot be easily broken or permanently sprung away from the stem. The formation of the eye and of vthe adja-' cent partsof'the needle is such that the latter isnot appreciably weakened by the presence, or attachment of the thread guid- 'ing rod", for'the latter is so disposed adjacent the eye as to prevent escape of the" thread therefrom and also cutting thereof even under the extreme'conditions existing when the machine in which the needle is mounted is employed in tacking.

Ielaim:.

1 A sewing machine needle having a shank, a stem and a point, said stem being formed adjacent its junction with the point with a longitudinal cut extending rearwardly from a point parallel and to one side of its center line and bent at anacute angle therewith so as to'divide the forward end of the stem into two parts of which one has formed in. it an eye into which'the cut opens, the rear end of said partbeing extended toward the shank in the form of a relatively thin flexible rod passing around the stem and formed to constitute a thread guide. I A I Q 2. A needle consisting .of a shank, a stem,

and a point, and having an eye with an 5 and e point, and having an eye with opening thereinto; with a guide rod connected to the forward end of'the needle and extending parallelwith the stem toward the shank thereof, the free end of the rod being formed to present a curved surface for directing a thread between it and the stem and being curved around the needle to prevent 113$ exeess1ve lateral movement.

JOHN W. GRANGER. 

